Tournaments

2018 ITTF Challenge, Belgium Open

Once again France in focus

24 Oct 2018

France the focus of attention at the weekend with the Liebherr 2018 Men’s World Cup being staged in Paris; three days after the conclusion of proceedings in Disneyland, the country was very much in focus on the morning of Wednesday 24th October in the village of De Haan, located on the Flanders coast.

Lilian Bardet, Irvin Bertrand, Leo de Nodrest, Bastien Rembert, Jules Rolland and Dorian Zheng were all in action in the second preliminary round; furthermore, it proved a highly successful round for the Frenchmen.

Lilian Bardet maintained his composure to recover from a two games to nil deficit to eventually overcome Jan Zandecki (Photo: Ireneusz Kanabrodzki)

by Ian Marshall, Editor

There was just one casualty, Leo de Nodrest was beaten in a full distance five games duel by Japan’s in form Aoto Asazu (14-12, 7-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6).

Otherwise it was a successful venture with Lilian Bardet being the member of the successful group to experience the greatest scare; he recovered from a two games to nil deficit to beat Poland’s Jan Zandecki by the very narrowest of margins (6-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9).

“I kept calm after being two-nil down in games. I had some problems with his serve but managed to recover and win the match. The level in this tournament is very high, I am happy to qualify for the main draw. There are some very good French junior players present here. We hope to get far, especially in the Under 21 competition.” Lilian Bardet